Employees at Financially Reeling Dacha Say Automatic ‘Gratuity’ Charges Go to Owners | Eater DC

"Situated on the Navy Yard waterfront, the restaurant and 700-person beer garden expanded from Shaw in May and has drawn outrage after a Washingtonian report detailed its practice of adding an 18 percent automatic “gratuity” — the menu even states, “In lieu of tips, an 18 percent gratuity is added to all checks” — which the business counts as revenue rather than tips. Former employees, kept anonymous by the Washingtonian, say they were promised a robust hourly wage plus tips (one server said he was making about $20 per hour including tips; two former bartenders said they were promised $25 per hour plus tips), yet after Dacha instituted the gratuity in June some workers quit and others said they were fired for raising the issue, and one bartender at the beer garden told the magazine he racked up $3,000 in gratuities in a single day without getting a cut. Owners Ilya Alter and Dmitri Chekaldin say Dacha never promised workers a portion of automatic gratuities and call the charges revenue used to pay a “fair wage,” with Alter calling the policy “a progressive thing to do.” The report also outlined supplier and contractor claims — TriMark Adams-Burch is suing for $277,453.53 and a contractor placed an $83,524.90 lien for unpaid electrical work and light fixtures, alleging Dacha authorized payments it knew it couldn’t make and then had charges reversed; Alter described the complaint as a “fake” lawsuit used as leverage — and the story triggered social media backlash accusing the business of misleading customers and employees, though some observers said the policy would be defendable if communicated properly." - Gabe Hiatt